Even though Big Brother barely ended, Julie Chen has been leaving major hints about a Big Brother winter season. Big Brother 21 concluded in September with Jackson Michie taking the Big Brother crown. A few week’s prior to the finale, CBS confirmed that Big Brother would return this summer for a 22nd season. This let fans breathe a sigh of relief, as CBS left fans without a Big Brother winter counterpart, because they made no official renewal or cancellation announcement about Celebrity Big Brother.

After no word on Celebrity Big Brother 3, Big Brother fans began to accept that there would not be a winter season, but then Julie Chen-Moonves stepped in. The Big Brother host began posting cryptic pictures back in October. These pictures started to make fans wonder if she could be giving them a hint about an upcoming season of Big Brother, one that aired prior to summer 2020.

The Big Brother Diary Chair Picture

It all began on October 25 with a cryptic Instagram picture of the diary room chair. Chen-Moonves didn’t include a caption, but added a few emoji faces. This sparked a frenzy among Big Brother fans, especially when former houseguests started to comment on the picture as well.

The Big Brother Houseguest Costumes

A few days later, Julie Chen once again posted an Instagram picture, this time she explained that it was Halloween week, so she would be dressing up as past houseguests. The first houseguest she showcased was Big Brother 16’s Zach Rance. In it, she held a box of Froot Loops and wore his signature Florida Gators shirt and pink hat. The Froot Loops box referenced Zach’s catchphrase “Froot Loop Dingus” and his exit where he tossed Froot Loops on his housemates before leaving the game.

The next day, Chen-Moonves dressed as the Wackstreet Boys, reference to a punishment from Big Brother 17 where players Julia Nolan, John “Johnny Mac” McGuire, and Jason Roy had to dress up as a faux boyband, and perform and dance a routine as a punishment. Julie Chen then spent the next three days dressed as Big Brother 18 winner Nicole Franzel, runner-up Paul Abrahamian, and a member of the famous Chilltown duo.

After seeing Julie Chen in these costumes, fans wondered if it was a hint of Big Brother planning another Big Brother: All-Stars, with the costumes being a hint of who might return to the house.

CBS’s Big Brother Twitter Gets Involved

Chen-Moonves didn’t post about Big Brother again for weeks, then CBS’s Big Brother official Twitter account tweeted a mysterious tweet that said, “When someone spills the tea, and then says you can’t tell anybody.” They also used the hashtag “BigBrother” and included a GIF from Big Brother 20 of Bayleigh Dayton and Sam Bledsoe, which created even more of a frenzy online.

The Big Brother Cue Cards

In November, CBS released the official winter programming schedule, and it didn’t include any mention of Big Brother. This ended any rumor of a winter season of Big Brother, and then about a week later, Julie Chen-Moonves posted a short video holding a Big Brother cue card, but once again put no real caption but a few emojis and a happy Monday shoutout. Fans went wild again.

It’s hard to tell if Julie Chen is just having a little fun with the Big Brother fans, keeping them guessing, or if there is plans to have a winter Big Brother season. Despite it not being on the upcoming winter program listing, many fans are hoping that Big Brother returns as a CBS: All Access exclusive, similar to Big Brother Over the Top. Whether the Big Brother host is trolling or being serious doesn’t really matter, because Big Brother fans will anxiously wait for the next clues.

More: Big Brother: 10 Runners-Up Who Deserved To Win It All 

Source: Big Brother, Julie Chen-Moonves